Jacqueline Wilson's Happy Holidays Read online

  Biscuits continued steadily, though his face was purple with effort.

  ‘Steady now,’ Dad cried. ‘Biscuits? Are you all right? Here, I’m coming!’

  ‘No! I’m – I’m – just – out – of – puff!’ Biscuits gasped. ‘But – I’m – OK.’

  He looked down to see how far he’d got. He wavered.

  ‘Don’t look down!’ Dad shouted.

  Biscuits looked up, and started climbing again.

  ‘That’s the lad. Not too far now,’ Dad said.

  He looked over his shoulder. ‘Thank heavens Mum’s still with that fortune-teller. She’d go bananas if she saw Biscuits. What’s he playing at? Don’t you boys realize it’s highly dangerous?’

  ‘Yes, I realize it ever so, Dad,’ I said. ‘And so does Biscuits. But this was a serious emergency. You see these boys were being nasty to us and one of them—’

  ‘OK, OK. Don’t rabbit on about it now, Tim. Let’s just concentrate on Biscuits getting back up here all in one piece,’ said Dad, leaning right over and just about reaching Biscuits.

  ‘Take my hand, Biscuits.’

  Biscuits did as he was told. Dad very nearly toppled over with his weight, but just about managed to hang on. Biscuits climbed up, and Dad seized him under the armpits and hauled him back over the top of the railings.

  Biscuits lay flat on the planks, gasping like the captured fish.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Dad asked. He sat down too, and mopped his brow.

  ‘You – bet!’ Biscuits puffed.

  ‘Oh Biscuits, you were so brave!’ I said.

  ‘Yes – I was – wasn’t I?’ said Biscuits, sitting up and grinning.

  ‘You were also very very reckless and silly,’ said Dad. ‘You must never ever do that again, do you promise?’

  ‘Cross my heart and hope to die,’ said Biscuits. ‘Phew! I feel a bit peckish after all that high drama.’

  Prickle-Head had dropped most of Biscuits’ secret supply of food. Biscuits started gathering it up and consuming it rapidly.

  I didn’t feel hungry at all, even though I was ultra-empty after being sick. I still felt bowled over by Biscuits’ bravery. And cast down by my own cowardice.

  I was a totally useless scaredy-cat little squirt.

  I picked my way slowly back down the pier, plank by plank. Biscuits and Dad strode ahead, chatting man to man.

  ‘Are you feeling all right, Tim?’ said Mum, but she didn’t sound too worried.

  The fortune-teller had put her in an unusually good mood.

  ‘She says I’m going to meet someone from the past – and romance is in the air,’ said Mum, her eyes sparkling.

  ‘I hope I don’t breathe it in – I can’t stick romance,’ said Biscuits.

  Dad laughed and patted him on the back. They decided they wanted to go to the amusement arcade. Dad bought us all candy floss. I didn’t want mine so I gave it to Biscuits. He started playing this car chase with Dad. Mum began feeding coins into a fruit machine. She didn’t listen properly when I started telling her about Prickle-Head and Pinch-Face.

  ‘What’s his name, darling?’ Mum said vaguely – and then she laughed triumphantly. She’d won the jackpot.

  ‘Oh, never mind,’ I said huffily, and I wandered off by myself.

  I stopped at one of those crane machines full of little rubber trolls with wild pink and purple hair. My girlfriend Kelly has a troll doll called Theresa.

  I thought about Kelly. I hoped she wasn’t still mad at me for asking Biscuits on holiday instead of her. I decided to try to win her another troll as a holiday present. A friend for Theresa. Yes, she’d really like that. She really liked me. Even if I wasn’t very brave.

  I put a whole pound coin in the machine. It gave me five goes. It should be easy-peasy to get one troll. Several. Maybe even five.

  Ha! I wrestled with the handle that worked the crane but it wouldn’t go where I wanted. It missed altogether the first two goes. It caught a troll’s hair the third go and I gasped – but the troll slipped away. I missed the fourth time. My hand started to shake for the fifth and final go.

  Someone was standing behind me, watching. I hate that. The crane opened up its claws. It brushed against a couple of trolls. It knocked one so that its little rubber arm waved cheekily. But then the claws closed on nothing. The crane went up again – empty.

  ‘You’re pretty useless!’ someone said. ‘Here, you’d better let me have a go.’

  I turned round to look at this rude stranger.

  It wasn’t a stranger at all.

  It was Kelly!!!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I COULDN’T BELIEVE it was Kelly. But there are no other girls like her. She has hair sticking straight up in the air in a top knot. When she’s excited it waggles about. She’s got little dark glinty eyes and a great big grin. She wears bright clingy clothes and posh trainers and she talks all the time. Well, I suppose there are quite a lot of girls like Kelly, but she’s the bounciest.

  ‘Kelly!’ I said.

  ‘Hi, Tim,’ she said. She grinned, the corners of her mouth almost tickling her ears. She had new earrings, white and sparkly. She twiddled them proudly.

  ‘Do you like my diamonds? My mum’s boyfriend Dave bought me them as a holiday present,’ she said.

  ‘Wow! Real diamonds!’ I said.

  ‘Well. Not real real. But they’re very good synthetic stones,’ Kelly said, tossing her head about so that they caught the light. ‘Right. Budge over, Tim. I’ll show you how to work these cranes.’

  Kelly’s mum’s boyfriend Dave had given her a whole purseful of change. She inserted a coin and started twiddling.

  She was ace.

  In a matter of minutes Theresa Troll had a whole tribe of relations: Tracy Troll and Truman Troll and Tabitha Troll and Tyrone Troll and Tilly Troll and Trocadero Troll. Biscuits and Dad and Mum heard Kelly’s triumphant crowing as she kept capturing yet another troll. They came over to watch.

  Then Kelly’s mum and Kelly’s mum’s boyfriend Dave and Kelly’s little brother Dean and her baby brother Keanu came and watched too. It got very crowded. I’d have died if everyone was watching me. It didn’t put Kelly off a bit.

  Then all the grown-ups started talking and Kelly’s mum’s new boyfriend Dave got introduced. He had the most amazing tattoos all the way up his arms. Snakes and flowers and hearts and a lady in a bikini. He could make her waggle when he moved his muscle. He showed Biscuits and me and we thought it cooler than cool. We kept wanting him to do it, but Mum gave me a sharp nudge and told me not to keep pestering. She didn’t say much else. Kelly’s mum said lots and lots. Dad did too.

  ‘I just can’t get over the coincidence of you being here on holiday too!’ he said. ‘I mean, Llanpistyll and Abercoch are such out of the way places.’

  ‘It was our Kelly. She looked them up on the map, she did, and said she just knew Llanpistyll would be great. And so we made sure there was a caravan site – and here we are.’

  ‘Oh, you’re staying at the caravan site,’ said Mum.

  ‘Don’t tell me you are too!’ said Kelly’s mum, laughing and flipping her pony-tail.

  Kelly’s mum is ever so like Kelly. Only more glittery.

  ‘Oh no! No, we’re staying at the Gwesty Bryn Nodfa. It’s a very nice quiet family hotel,’ said Mum.

  ‘Poor you,’ said Kelly. ‘It’s ever such fun down the caravan site. We’ve got our own amusement arcade and there’s swings and all sorts.’

  ‘Yes, it’s great for the kiddies,’ said Kelly’s mum’s boyfriend Dave. ‘They can amuse themselves. And we can amuse ourselves.’

  ‘You must come over. Come now!’ Kelly said.

  ‘Can we, Mum?’ I said.

  ‘Oh no, dear. No, we’re going to look at another castle,’ Mum said quickly.

  ‘Then come for tea,’ said Kelly.

  ‘Ooh, let’s,’ said Biscuits.

  ‘No, I’m sorry, we have our evening meal at our hotel,’ said Mum.

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